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encroaching to the point

Part title

Encroaching to the point of discomfort

Part identifier

P0000032

Part type

Gesture

Part creator

Layzell, Richard

Part medium

Part description

Richard walks towards the audience with the video soundtrack turned down. He says, “Those are the two things really, you know I'm sure that with this on”, he looks down at the blindfold, “there's really... its contained". He puts the blindfold in left trouser pocket. He goes on, “I hadn't seen it like this till I'd thought about it, or talked about it to be honest. Talked about it in public or wrote about it and it just seemed that actually, there were two extremes coming from different things and different bits of [shrugs shoulders]...Well I could be more specific but there were these two ways, you know I could be, or anybody". He gestures forward with his hand between himself and the audience, stepping closer to them and saying, “encroaching to the point of discomfort maybe [sniffs], I actually don't want to do that. Well perhaps just a little [sniffs, puts his hands into his pockets] because having said it, I mean, it doesn't have to be aggression, just it's [breathes in deeply then breathes out, cheeks puffed out]. On the other hand of course [stepping backward and taking his right hand out of his pocket and gesticulating] there's a more comfortable distance, as it probably was just now [he pauses and looks at his right hand] And you can put those into Romanticism, Classicism, Expressionism, Formalism [gesturing from one side to other], it doesn't really matter [he steps forward then backward, then expels air through pursed lips with puffed cheeks. He again moves backward and looks around]”.

Remarking on this Richard said, “This feels very familiar. I'm presenting myself in a kind of insular way to the audience and I'm in the moment. It's a bit uncomfortable and I know it's a bit uncomfortable and I'm doing it for that reason and it's kind of what I'm talking about. It's easy to be aggressive or funny but being just real and yourself is hard and challenging and not entertaining and this is not meant to be entertaining, it's something else”.